West water pact temporarily voided
SAN DIEGO -- A California judge on Thursday tentatively invalidated a landmark pact to curtail the state's overuse of water and allow other Western states to claim their fair share.
The 2003 agreement ended years of bickering over how to divide the Colorado River between California and six Western states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
More than 30 million acre-feet of water would move from farms to cities in Southern California over the 75-year life of the deal.
Superior Court Judge Roland Candee ruled in Sacramento that the state improperly agreed to pick up much of the cost of saving the shrinking Salton Sea in the southeastern California desert. Restoring the state's largest lake was a piece of the agreement.
The state put no limit on costs, violating a constitutional limit on assuming debts, Candee wrote. The judge will hear arguments next week to decide whether to make the ruling final.
Cities like San Diego and Los Angeles were taking billions of extra gallons of Colorado River water over the years, angering other Western states. The pact outlined a plan for California to wean itself.
